“Espiral de retaliação”！A intensidade do confronto entre a Rússia e a Ucrânia continua a escalar, e Trump afirma que resolver o conflito entre os dois países será "muito mais rápido do que as pessoas pensam".

Front line tug-of-war, mutual strikes in depth — Military expert interprets the high-intensity confrontation between Russia and Ukraine

Xinhua News Agency, July 6 — In recent days, Russia and Ukraine have been trapped in a "spiral of retaliation," with the intensity of confrontation continuing to escalate. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on social media on the 6th that Russian forces launched密集 strikes on multiple locations in Ukraine that day in response to Ukraine's previous attacks on civilian facilities within Russia.

Military experts believe that Russia's current core operational goal is to seize the Kramatorsk-Slavyansk urban group in the Donetsk region, while Ukraine is mainly using drones and other equipment to strike Russian energy targets, attempting to pressure Russia from a civilian perspective. In the short term, the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine will present a situation of front-line attack and defense tug-of-war and mutual long-range strikes on logistics targets.

Mutual attacks and defenses

In recent days, Russia and Ukraine have been in a state of high-intensity confrontation. On the front line, Russia continues to advance ground positional warfare. Russian President Putin stated on the 3rd that Russian forces are constantly accelerating their offensive across the entire front line, continuing to eliminate Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. The work of establishing security zones in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions is proceeding as planned.

Putin also announced on the same day that Russian forces had made significant progress in the Donetsk region, seizing the strategic location of Kostiantynivka. Analysts believe that given the Ukrainian forces' layered defense system in Kostiantynivka, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and other places, this Russian advance has important strategic significance. However, the Ukrainian side stated the next day that the Russian report was not true and that Kostiantynivka remains under Ukrainian control.

Both sides have also intensified air strikes on each other's deep targets. Ukraine has launched large-scale drone attacks on Russia, with targets gradually expanding from Russian military facilities to energy and communication infrastructure, as well as military production and logistics systems. For example, in June, the Ukrainian military used drones to strike multiple energy facilities deep inside Russia, including a natural gas refinery and a helium plant located more than 1,200 kilometers from the front line in the Orenburg region.

Russia has also launched air strikes on targets within Ukraine. According to Ukrainian reports, from the night of July 1 to the early morning of July 2, 51 locations in Kyiv and other areas within Ukraine were hit by large-scale Russian missile and drone strikes. Russia stated that its forces launched five large-scale strikes on Ukraine in June, targeting enterprises producing cruise missiles, medium and long-range drones, robotic systems, electronic warfare equipment, military airfields, and energy fuel facilities.

Each side has its considerations

Analysts point out that the recent simultaneous increase in offensive operations by Russia and Ukraine is driven by multiple considerations, including seizing battlefield initiative and balancing domestic and foreign affairs.

From the Ukrainian perspective, Ukraine is trying to strike Russian infrastructure, logistics hubs, and military production targets, disrupt Russia's supply transportation and energy security systems, raise Russia's war costs, and weaken its front-line combat capabilities. Ukraine has focused on attacking Russian oil and gas infrastructure, causing fuel supply shortages and rising energy prices in Russia. Russian political analyst Sergei Strokan believes that Ukraine's move aims to amplify the impact of the war on Russian civilian life and weaken the Russian people's tolerance for the war.

In addition, Ukraine hopes to send a signal to the outside world through the current offensive, especially with the upcoming NATO summit. Ukrainian international affairs expert Maxim Yali believes that Ukraine intends to prove to Western countries that it still has sustained combat capability, thereby alleviating doubts among some allies about military aid to Ukraine.

Russia, on the other hand, seeks to consolidate its battlefield initiative. The Russian Ministry of Defense's recent combat weekly report shows that the Russian armed forces have launched several rounds of high-intensity strikes on Ukrainian military industrial facilities and other targets since late June. Russian military experts believe that such high-intensity strikes have been rare in recent years, indicating Russia's capability and determination to advance military operations.

Analysts also point out that against the backdrop of rising domestic unease in Russia caused by Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia hopes to convey through its sustained offensive that the battlefield situation remains under control.

Tug-of-war continues

According to the Russian presidential website, Russian forces will continue to advance on multiple fronts. Its Eastern Group of Forces is advancing westward along the broad front in the eastern part of the Zaporizhzhia region; the Northern Group of Forces is expanding "security zones" in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine; the Central Group of Forces is advancing north towards the important town of Hrodivka (called Pokrovsk by Ukraine) in the Donetsk region and is competing for the important defensive stronghold of Novopavlivka village.

Ukraine, on the other hand, is focusing on the defense of towns such as Kostiantynivka, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian military experts and media believe that Kostiantynivka is particularly important for the overall defense of Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region. If this fulcrum is completely lost, it will greatly affect the defensive situation of the entire Kramatorsk front line. Ukrainian military commentator Alexander Kovalenko believes that Ukraine's main operational goal in the direction of Kostiantynivka is to exhaust Russian forces and equipment as much as possible, and before the end of summer, the tug-of-war between the two sides there will continue.

The Russian Baltic News Agency reported that given the continued Western support for Ukrainian drone operations, the scale of Ukrainian drone attacks on targets within Russia may expand. In addition, the risk of attacks on transport and infrastructure such as bridges and ports in Crimea will also increase.

Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov stated that besides the struggle for front-line positions, disrupting each other's logistics supply systems in the front and rear has become the focus of the current phase of confrontation between Russia and Ukraine. Both sides will continue to intensify attacks on each other's transport hubs, equipment depots, and energy facilities. Whether one can effectively paralyze the other's logistics supply system may affect the course of the war and even the negotiation process.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Trump says solving the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be "much faster than people think"

On July 6, US President Donald Trump claimed at an event that solving the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be "much faster than people think."

Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the conflict, and his willingness is "very strong." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "actually wants to end this conflict now as well." "We will discuss this during the NATO summit. I think we will get it (the Russia-Ukraine conflict) resolved."

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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